Full day at Fernal and the creation of Headball

At the beginning of the summer, Rich said he wanted to spend an entire day at lovely Fernal shores. He wanted to get there when they opened at 8 in the morning, and stay until we didn't want to be there anymore. I kind of thought he was crazy, but this Saturday, we did it. And it ruled.

Of course, we didn't get there at 8- more like 9, but we were still able to get the spot he wanted to get- the perfect spot, right at the corner where the main beach turns to a small cove, the one spot where you have water next to you on each side. We blocked off each side with cars, moved picnic tables to where we needed them, set up chairs, Josh set up a nap tent, and we lived it up, until we were kicked out at like 8:30. It was probably the longest time I've ever spent at a beach, and somehow it flew by. It flew by to the point where they were literally kicking us out. Now that's a day at the beach.

Josh freaking out with excitement while Jesse does the robot.

DAGS.

Hilton got so excited that he punched Jesse in the face. 

We started off the day in true fatsquad form, with some breakfast hotdogs.

nice face Jesse

Then we all sat down and just relaxed. I read a bit, we chatted some, Hilton started whittling a stick, the dogs entertained themselves- Angie by digging holes and freaking out, Irwin by whining and getting pine needles stuck in his slobber jowls. 

so gross (pic stolen from Rich)

 We then got just hot enough that it was time to stop messing around and start the swimming. We all went in and began doing my favorite thing in the world, throwing the B. About 10 minutes in, Josh goes, "Oh man, I just freaked out, I feel like I forgot to check for my phone before I went in!" I instantly panicked, thinking that I had my camera in my pocket. I reached down and felt nothing. Good. Then I went to the other pocket and felt my phone. Awesome. 10 minutes completely submerged in water. Bye bye iPhone 1, you were good to me. 

It was a short heartbreak- being sad/pissed wasn't going to do me much good. The only cure was more frisbee. After 2 hours or so, I felt the sunburn kicking in just like the hunger pains, and we retired to the shade for some awesome burgers and other snacks. In true nerd form, we then read some comic books. 

We then swam for another 3 hours or so, switching between throwing the B, swimming some laps between the buoys way out, and playing/inventing headball, the awesome/horrible game Rich, Josh and I had laid the seeds for a few days earlier. 

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How to play Headball:

At least 5 people set up in a circle (about 30 feet in diameter), equally spread out from each other, with only their heads above water.

The goal is to throw a frisbee into someone's head/face. 

2 points are awarded for hitting another player in the head.

1 point is rewarded to the player taking the hit. 

2 points are taken away from the player if they move out of the way of the frisbee or flinch enough so as to not get hit. In cases where there is a disagreement on whether or not the player would have been hit if they didn't flinch (because it's hard to not at least flinch a little bit), it goes to a vote. 

The goal is obviously to have good aim and hit your friends in the face, just as much as it is to be a man and get hit in the face with a frisbee. This is why this is the stupidest/awesomest game ever. 

Other key rules: You cannot throw the frisbee at either of the people directly next to you, meaning you only have 3 people you can throw at. You must variate who you aim at, so that you don't aim at one player twice in a row. If you hit a player or get hit, you switch places in the circle and high five each other while passing across the middle. Every time the frisbee is thrown and doesn't hit someone, all players take 1 step forward, increasing the ease of the hits. When someone is hit, you may move back. Play to either 10 or 15, however long you want. 

The game is instantly over if a player somehow manages to make the frisbee land and stay on another player's head, with the thrower obviously being the winner.

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We originally played with it being 1 point for a hit, 1 point for taking a hit, -2 for moving out of the way, and I was the champ. It made it interesting because you got the same amount of points for getting hit as for making a hit, so it became a weird thing of figuring out who to hit, since you'd be giving them points as well. The second way made more sense, but the second time we played it, it got old fast because of Dan's incessant complaining about every possible thing he could and the blinding sun making half the circle complete misery. Rich won the second round. 

All in all, we did 3 different 2-3 hour long sessions of swimming/B/headball, and some time sitting, eating and reading. Rich, Josh, Jesse, Hilton and I started the day, we were joined by Dan, Kate, and Max about halfway through the day, and Shawn made an appearance for the last hour. It was an AWESOME day- one of the most fun days I've had this summer, and I want to do it again. We all got very sunburned and I was pretty exhausted the next day, but it couldn't have been more worth it. It was a perfect summer day. 

Here's the rest of the best pictures:

In the dead center of this picture is Jesse, floating in the middle of the lake, where he lay for a good hour and a half with no sunblock, in an attempt to "get some color." Oh, and he did.

Hilton is the only one who used the nap tent. Notice how he chose the pink one.

Josh and Dan talk, while Max plays in the sand is Weasel looks miserable.

Kate reading Parenting magazine, Hilton eating chips and looking like the guy from Twilight, Max being cute, Weasel and Angie hanging out, and Jesse and Rich cooking burgers.

The great Maximus caught a fish with his hands, which we all thought was amazing until we realized that the fish had a messed up tail and was dying, and therefore not entirely hard to catch. ahhh life lessons...

Jesse showing us that color he wanted to get. I can't imagine how badly he hurt- my back was half as bad as his entire body and I was pretty miserable.

I made a friend.

The always beautiful sunset as we were leaving. 9am-8:30pm is a long day at the beach.

When we left, things got weird.

One of the greatest pictures taken of Hilton and me. Stoned twilight guy meets pink faced eyeless retard viking. This is when we got ice cream to end the day and got attacked by bugs.

And here is a sweet video that is sure to instantly go viral. I'm calling it "One dog digs like a lunatic, another is pissed about it."Enjoy.

DAGS from Mike Alexander on Vimeo

Things to watch for:

:17- I call Angie retarded and she stops and looks at me

:46- Irwin moves like lightning when barked at

1:15- Slobber city

1:16- A fart

currently listening to: Jamie's Elsewhere- They Said A Storm Was Coming